“The world is laughing at us. They’re laughing at the stupidity of our president.”
— Donald Trump, October 2016
Stupid is as stupid does.
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump remarked often on the
stupidity of our leaders. He was under the impression that the rest of
the planet was indulging in some sort of global guffaw at our expense.
“How stupid are we? The world is laughing.” If so, what must the
mirthful world think of our current state of affairs? This past week
alone:
The House and Senate intelligence committees
said they saw no evidence for President Trump’s wild claim that
President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, and Britain protested that the White House falsely alleged that British intelligence was involved. White House press secretary Sean Spicer
has been arguing that Trump didn’t mean wiretapping when he said Obama
had Trump’s “wires tapped.” Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested
that eavesdropping could have been accomplished using microwave ovens.
Trump’s
fellow Republicans pronounced his budget dead on arrival in Congress —
“draconian, careless and counterproductive” were the words used by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), former House Appropriations Committee chairman — because it recklessly cuts (slashing the State Department by nearly a third and targeting Meals on Wheels for the elderly) yet still adds to the debt Trump promised to eliminate.
Legislation to replace Obamacare stalled in Congress and had to be rewritten because of a rebellion within Trump’s own party.
A judge halted Trump’s second attempt at a ban on travel from several Muslim countries.
And Republican lawmakers probing Trump’s ties to Russia threatened subpoenas over the executive branch’s stonewalling.
In one of the presidential debates, CNBC’s John Harwood
asked Trump if he was running “a comic book version of a presidential
campaign.” Now Trump seems to be running a cartoon version of a
presidency, and he’s Elmer Fudd. His proposals could, if successfully
implemented, be ruinous. But so far, at least, Trump has been mercifully
incompetent. [...]
Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, lasted just 24 days on the job after misrepresenting his contacts with Russia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
falsely testified that he’d had no contacts with the Russians, forcing
his recusal from Russia investigations once the truth came out.
Trump’s nominee to be labor secretary withdrew
in the face of broad opposition. His education secretary, who suggested
that schools need guns to defend against grizzlies, was confirmed only
when the vice president broke a tie vote.
Trump blamed a “so-called”
judge for striking down his first travel ban and proposed blaming the
court system if there was a terrorist attack; his own Supreme Court
nominee called such remarks disheartening.
Trump
conducted sensitive diplomacy over a North Korean missile launch with
the Japanese prime minister surrounded by diners at his Mar-a-Lago
country club, one of whom posted online a photo of the man carrying the nuclear football.
Trump,
after inflating the crowd size at his inauguration and embracing a
conspiracy theory that 3 million to 5 million Americans voted illegally,
falsely accused the media of not covering terrorist attacks. The White
House then produced a badly spelled list of attacks, most of which had
been covered. Conway invented one attack, the “Bowling Green massacre.”
Conway pitched
Ivanka Trump’s fashion line on Fox News. Taxpayers have subsidized
millions of dollars’ worth of expenses related to Mar-a-Lago and the
Trump sons’ foreign travel.
Trump marked Black History Month with remarks suggesting he thought abolitionist Frederick Douglass was still alive.
Trump opened a rift with Australia in an angry phone call with that ally’s prime minister. He provoked the Mexican president to cancel a trip to Washington, and he baffled the Swedes by alluding to fictitious refugee-related violence “last night in Sweden.” Britain postponed a visit from Trump in hopes that anti-Trump protests would cool.[...]
This tragicomedy adds irony when you consider
that the main character is the same one who campaigned by saying “they
laugh at our stupidity” and “we are led by very, very stupid people” and “I have the best words, but there’s no better word than ‘stupid.’ ”
Now the world has reason to laugh at us — because we’re with stupid.
Just to inform you RabbI Eidenson. This post does nothing positive for me. I vehemently disagree with your stance on trump, yet I have no interest to waste my time arguing about it. When I see these posts It is nerve racking, frustrating and annoying. I am not protesting or stopping to check out your blog, because I am always hoping to find an interesting post which is relevant and valuable to me, but I'm just letting you know. Also I'm letting you know that I'm not alone in this, but rather most of the readers who were attracted to this blog for the important posts and annoyed by these posts. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteduly noted
ReplyDeleteI'm not.
ReplyDeleteI love these posts. How do you know that most are annoyed?
ReplyDeleteHarry, my friend, can I make a suggestion?
ReplyDeleteLet's contact all the heads of Batei Din and all the heads of Yeshivas in America who secretly agree that Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky is a Rasha for his role in Tamar Epstein's ongoing adulterous union. I personally have contacted a number of them. It seems that they may be afraid to speak out because of a backlash from the Kamenetskys.
So, let's quietly get these Torah scholars to collectively sign a letter that the Kamenetskys are out of order and Rabbi Kamenetsky be removed from the Moetzes. In numbers there is safety.
Now, I don't mean to prejudge the outcome of our little project. But I think we'll get nowhere with it. Not a single signature.
Then, after our complete failure, we can reflect on the futility of trying to root out the evil in our midst.
We can write a guest post here about our discouraging and disheartening attempts to get Torah leaders to act like, well, leaders.
We will gain a new appreciation of why Rabbi Eidensohn has moved on to researching and publicizing the activities of public officials.
Great idea!! Let's get started.
??
ReplyDeleteTake 2.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has made a cogent and compelling case for all Torah scholars filled with integrity and Fear of G-d to stand up and declare clearly and forcefully that the man revered as the "Greatest Gadol in America", is, in fact, evil.
But that didn't happen. What also didn't happen was a massive outcry against the failure of the Torah scholars to oust Rabbi Kamenetsky from his position at the Agudath Israel.
So, two failures. One, Rabbi Kamenetsky's failure. Two, the failure to take Rabbi Kamenetsky to task.
The blog then moved on to other issues. Suddenly, critics started popping up like daisies after a rain. What the...? Why are they criticizing the blog?! Why aren't they using their energy to criticize Rabbi Kamenetsky? As Ehud would say, "Houston, we have a problem."
I am surprised at your question. It has been answered by the "committed for integrity for reporting" of the readers of this blog. My talking about Trump "proved" that my presentation of the evidence about the Kaminetsky was questionable! After only someone who is a nut would question the competence of Trump and so mida keneged mida that proves that the evidence against the Kaminetsys was tainted.
ReplyDeleteBesides it is easier to attack me for not providing adequate "entertainment". Because the blog was "boring" it showed that the vast amount of material critical of the Kaminetskys was possibly phony and since it is too hard for many of the readers to read the Hebrew material it is simply easier to state that it can be ignored - unless I stop reporting about Trump. A win win situation. An excuse not to be concerned about the very troubling problem of the Kaminetsky and extortion to pressure me to stop bringing negative material about Trump.
I don't blame Rabbi Eidenson for taking interest in that in which he takes interest. I'm just suggesting, for the general good of his important causes, and for the continued success of this blog, that he take a different route.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, he accomplished a lot with his comprehensive coverage of the Kaminetzky fiasco. It opened many people's eyes, and those open eyed people went on to further open eyes, be it yet not enough to dethrone the emperor. That's very valuable, because now when he will give his Daas Torah about anything, even things as innocent as shmiras halashon, we will take him with less than a grain of salt, which is as it should be. When he will pasken what bad info one should or shouldn't impart when asked about a shidduch, many will know not to listen to him, because it might end up being sinful slander, or conversely, a violation of lo saamod al dam rayecha. They know to rather follow their better judgement.
RDE was not at all wasting time with that topic, but he is with this Trump topic. Even people who disagree with him, like myself, don't bother do argue this silliness, and the people who agree are simply anti Trumpers. With the other topic, it was a real discussion, because it was truly important, not like this silly discussion which has little value in ruchnius and gashmius alike.
Again, people did become enlightened of the evil of RSK, and they continue to pass it on to others. I certainly do. The fact that he wasn't dethroned is because the time has not yet come for all evil to be uprooted and the ultimate good to prevail over all.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the majority of people commenting on this blog who view the RSK heter as encouraging adultery (rabbinic), view Trump, a self-confessed adulterer (d'oraita), as a Tzaddik. I am really struggling to locate the moral compass of these RSK opponents. If they're concerned about Truth, then let them be consistent and follow Truth wherever it leads. It seems that that Truth was not their motivation to begin with, perhaps they have some personal vendetta against Rabbonim/Dayanim in general and "Gedolim" in particular. If so let them stop applying their unfair pressure on RDE and let him continue educating those who are truly concerned about Truth.
ReplyDeleteYou have it backwards. Democrats/liberals = Satan, so anyone who is not a Democrat is by definition on the right side. The fact that Trump is neither a Republican or a conservative does not matter either.
ReplyDeleteIf Trump is "LIAR" as this blog always screams, how can his self-confession be believed?
ReplyDeleteyou have got to be kidding - that is your defense?
ReplyDeleteAnd you really believe that it is only this blog who has noted that he repeatedly lies? Or are you objecting that the obvious truth is being reported here and consider that anything negative reported about Trump is being "screamed" rather than simply being reported?
when someone who repeated lies about information which is unflattering to him - says something unflattering about himself - it is reasonable that it is one of the rare times that he is saying the truth!
He used innuendo to sell his book. He implied something titillating. In the instances where he talked about specific married women coming on to him he always declined their advances. But this sentence “If I told the real stories of my experiences with women, often
ReplyDeleteseemingly very happily married and important women, this book would be a
guaranteed best-seller,”says nothing. The real stories could be as climactic as his 2005 tax return.
He has been explicit about it - he clearly did not want us to have any doubts. Please read this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/430381/donald-trump-ben-sasse-twitter-question-marital-infidelity
Here is what the goyim quoted in the article had to say:
"We urge all Americans to embrace and act on the conviction that character does count in public office, and to elect those officials and candidates who, although imperfect, demonstrate consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character."
If goyim think such values are important for public office, shouldn't we as frum Jews care all the more?!
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/430381/donald-trump-ben-sasse-twitter-question-marital-infidelity
1st of all, according to the Yerushalmi (unlike the Rambam), a confession by a ben-noach is sufficient to be liable for a capital offence - no other evidence needed.
ReplyDelete2nd, a decent human being, who understands the profound damage to society, should be ashamed of adultery and not boast about it.
1. Such a broad general statement as he made does not constitute a confession because he does not mention who, when nor even where.
ReplyDelete2. At the time he wrote those things he was a Democrat friendly with the Clintons, Schumer, etc. Can you accept he did teshuva for saying such things as many have forgiven Bill Clinton for raping a woman who has never expressed any remorse?
If goyim thought such things were important Bill Clinton would have been convicted when he was impeached.
ReplyDeleteWe as frum Jews do care. But we also know a goy is a goy. When I was living in Washington at the time Vince Foster's body was found there were many whispers that Hillary Clinton had had an affair with him. So which adulterer was preferable? The one who helped a Jewish child or the one without any redeeming qualities?
there were also "whispers" of a Martian invasion. So what! You first state unsubstantiated rumors. Then accept the rumors as true and then say how does this not accepted rumor related to proven facts. Rather poor level of analysis.
ReplyDeleteThey say Jews eat the blood of Christians. Which is worse the eating of blood or the Holocaust?
Ok. You tell me the name of a married woman Trump was mizona with. Substantiate that he actually committed adultery with a married woman. You are the one always calling him a liar. He admittedly says he was selling his book with sensationalism. Yet he never once names a married woman that he actually slept with.
ReplyDeleteThrump was a showman. But he was also builder. Show me a single Trump structure cited for building code violations. Oh am I going off topic? Yes I certainly am. Can you understand the point why?
Chazal say (paraphrasing): Whoever is compassionate to the cruel will evetually be cruel to the compassionate!
ReplyDeleteYour approach to defending Trump reveals the truth of these words. By saying a "goy is a goy", you are saying that it is impossible to find goyim that "demonstrate consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character"! But this implies injustice to the Compassionate One, who gave them the laws of noach which requires "consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character"!
Did Trump express remorse for boasting about adultery with numerous married women? If he has please show me?
ReplyDelete2nd. when it comes to the noachide qualities of "consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character", Trump of all the candidates on the republican and democratic sides, was apparently the least qualified! And if you will repeat that nonsesense that a "goy is a goy"! The simple answer is that it is G-d's Will that goyim keep the laws of noach, and if we as frum Jews support and defend the (apparently) worst candidate wrt the noachide requirement, giving him influence over billions of human lives, then it does appear as if we are opposing G-d's Will on this matter. And that bothers me - bigly!
I understand. But it will be nice to hear them admit this, raher than making excues for their immoral choices.
ReplyDeleteHuh? What? How in the world do you read that from my words?! No wonder this blog is all screwed up. Commenters like you read things that aren't there.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully disagree. If each of us who think Rabbi Kamenetsky should be dethroned worked closely in coordination, we could dethrone him. Talking to our friends helps, but it's not the whole shebang. It would be a watershed event just to form such an organization. Imagine the good we could do. Here is my email address & phone number. Let's make history.
ReplyDeleteJoe Orlow
market@softwine.press
(202) 251-3866
I like that part about the building code. No irony here. That was a factor in my supporting Mr. Trump. To many politicians have never had extensive experience with dealing with reality. They craft policies that collapse, and just move on. Had one building of Mr. Trump's collapsed, I don't think I would have voted for him.
ReplyDeleteI see Gorsuch's flub is going to keep reverberating :)
ReplyDeletehttp://variety.com/2016/biz/news/donald-trump-access-hollywood-1201882204/
I wasn't aware that Trump designed buildings? How is the architect's concern for building codes show that Trump is reality oriented?
ReplyDeleteExplain how I misunderstood your comment that a "goy is a goy"in reply to my prior question to you? If I erred, I will admit it (unlike your hero). Believe me!
ReplyDeleteAsher, my man, please give a relevant response!
ReplyDeleteVerrrry funnny. It's the builder who is responsible for complying with the codes and to build safely in accordance with the approved plans submitted to the Building & Zoning Dept. Your response to Joseph Orlow is an example why your credibility is in serious question.
ReplyDeletedon't see the humor. Responsible is not the same the as being reality oriented.
ReplyDeleteMy credibility is a serious question only to a small number of people including yourself.
Given your allegiance to Trump - your credibility is more problematic than mine.
Nice to see someone with life experience, probably over age 25(35(45)), who is still so idealistic and hasn't given up. I, on the other hand, although also somewhat idealistic, have learned from my life experience, that what you are suggesting isn't realistic, and those who try to form the organization will be left holding the bag, a bag which will have been loaded, with some very heavy weights. The loading will be done even by people who in their heart agree, but will make their public protest.
ReplyDeleteMr. had the idea to build. Mr. Trump raised the money. Mr. Trump hired the people. He supervised the process. All that takes a strong grounding in reality.
ReplyDeleteI was commenting on what I assumed was sarcasm on your part. If you meant that nonsense seriously about the building codes then you are indeed without credibility.
ReplyDeleteYou know the phrase "boys will be boys"? I was trying to play on the similarity of words.
ReplyDeleteThe relevant response was the Variety link. (http://disq.us/url?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvariety.com%2F2016%2Fbiz%2Fnews%2Fdonald-trump-access-hollywood-1201882204%2F%3AD3e-s8epmFBCAJhyZVk4uGL_-5U&cuid=3025274 ) The Gorsuch remark is about your use of "bigly".
ReplyDeleteRead the article you posted. It has nothing to do with Trump's boasts of committing adultery with numerous married women. The article presents him expressing regret for his disgraceful comments on the "access Hollywood tape", and blaming Bill Clinton for doing much worse.
ReplyDeletePlease present where he apologized for boasting about committing adultery with married women, as presented in the article I posted. See below the article again. And please read it!
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/430381/donald-trump-ben-sasse-twitter-question-marital-infidelity
A frum Jew should support candidates that come closest to ideals of benei noach by displaying "consistent honesty, moral purity and the highest character"! This is G-d's Will, who gave the noachide laws! Do you agree? Can you see how supporting and defending Trump is not consistent with the will of the Almächtige?
ReplyDeleteYou are forgetting that neither candidate running in this past election were angels. IMHO Trump was the lesser of the two evils because of the decent actions he did while the other candidate had nothing good to her credit. Her disgusting attitude and treatment of military officers was in my opinion the sign of her moral turpitude.
ReplyDeleteThe article you posted was Senator Sasse's view of Trump's boasts. No actual "children & spouses" were harmed by Trump's boasting. He lied about it. (He was a Democrat Clinton supporter at the time he wrote the lie.) If there really were you can bet they would have been paraded about during the election. Did Hillary ever apologize to the people she publicly degraded in the course of their service? Never. So stop beating a dead horse.
ReplyDeleteRead the article. Trump did boast about adultery, and nowhere has he apologized for this. The laws of noach do not require giving charity, they require 1st and foremost consistent honesty and moral purity. A frum jew cannot willingly support such a candidate. Unless of course he has a low opinion of goyim to begin with?!
ReplyDeleteAnd again I will point out that so many people on this blog accuse Trump of lying when he presents no evidence. So why in the case of his claiming to have committed adultery in order to spice up up his book and boost sales are you taking him at his word?
ReplyDeleteYou're just looking to pick a fight I see because I've explained over and over that Hillary was an even worse liar and morally bankrupt person than Donald Trump. According to your reasoning frum Jews should have abstained from voting last November.
I have a low opinion of many supposedly frum Jews as well when they trample on the Torah. See my blog, http://cleanupyoungisrael.blogspot.com/
If you read the article. You will know he made the adultery claim not only the book. Read the article to the end, before making excuses for Trump.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, any mature and decent person in public life would realize that boasting in he public domain about adultery is morally reprehensible. He should feel shame and regret, and express this to the public. This is the basis of Teshuvah, in such a case.
Thirdly, Trump just repeatedly breaks the noachide law of not bearing false withness against his fellow - most recently against his fellow Barack Hussein Obama!
Trump is a big step down from the last two Presidents, when measured agaisnt noachide laws. As a frum Jew you should be concerned!
Think about it! The Jewish equivalent of Trump would be a secular Jew who has behaved exactly the same way Trump has with women, lies and gezel. Would you support such a Jew to be President?
Regarding honesty, according to objective soures like politifact, Trump is a liar, Hillary Clinton is not.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/lists/people/comparing-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-truth-o-met/
http://politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
You are obsessed with a a point that the Clintons said has nothing to do with being President when Bill was caught with more disgusting proof than self-aggrandizing words. Trump is a boaster, always has been and it looks like always will be.. A big step down from Obama? You are delusional.
ReplyDeleteGezel? What are you claiming now?
How long ago did Trump write those statements? Do you know who he was friends with then? The Clintons! Has he changed? The fact he ran against Hillary proves he did.
I don't have to defend my choice of voting for someone I know did a great mitzvah for a Jewish child over a witch who publicly berated military and Secret Service personnel and never did anything even close to what Trump did for Rabbi Ten for anyone. End of story. Period.
How could you vote for a woman who broke the Noachide laws of Dinnim by breaking the laws of the country when she set up her own private email server and sent classified material over it? How could you vote for a woman who committed the equivalent of Shvichas Damim by publicly castigating and embarrassing military and Secret Service personnel?
ReplyDeleteHow could you put Jewish lives in danger by voting for a woman who kissed the wife of the worst killer of Jewish children since Hitler?
With all her known factaul flaws (as opposed to unsubstantiated allegations), Clinton was the best choice based on moral/ethical noachide standards. She may be far from ideal, but improving society (like any system) is a step by step process. At each step, you try to rise a little higher, and if the choice is between two lower levels of decent you choose the least decent.
ReplyDeleteWe ought to be cotributting to the process of improving the moral/ethical standards of leadership in society. I simply do not see how voting for Trump contributed to that.
your are correct - end of story - you have presented no evidence to justify your position but simply return over and over again to Rabbi Ten. That does not give carte blanche to Trump
ReplyDeleteThe step you take to improve standards is by concentrating on Trump's proven good merits (e.g. his generosity, his obeying the laws on taxes, building codes etc) because whether you like it or not he is President for at least the next 4 years. Valid criticism is ok. But witch hunting on UNPROVEN allegations such collusion with Russia is not.
ReplyDeleteOh? http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438657/hillary-clinton-benghazi-lies-pat-smith-charles-woods
ReplyDeleteTrump has good points. But thiese points are not helpful in terms of improving the standards of leadership. Unfortunately, unless he himself recognises (through his daughter) the necessity of basic noachide moral/ethical codes, adopts them and learns competent leadership, then his presidency will simply go down in history as a mistake - by those who chose him.
ReplyDeleteRead the politifact articles, the lies of clinton and trump are compared. You'll find that it is an objective comparison. Trump mostly lies - Clinton mostly tells the Truth.
ReplyDeleteHe already did. When was the last time he bragged about having married women? Back when he was Clinton-supporting Democrat.
ReplyDeleteEasy. We kept a crook who thinks she was above the law and her rapist husband out of the White House where the last time they left they committed Gezel by stealing items. OMG! They broke a Noachide law! How could you possibly support thieves?
ReplyDeletePolitifact objective? Haha, heehee. LOL!
ReplyDeleteFlo, you really are a comedienne. :)
(YAWN) Again mit your bubbameises!? Give it a rest.
ReplyDelete